Wheel of Fortune...and a goddess?

[kiara381]

Well, i originally posted this just before the forum went away and didn't survive the travel to it's new home. So, i'll see if i can make the question sound as good as it did before...

One of my subjects at university is basically about where performances are held and why. For the first 3 weeks we concentrated on the medieval period. In the lectures and tutorial, the image of a "wheel of fortune" was used, and discussed, as the idea of the wheel of fortune was used in plays at that time. In the particular picture we were shown, there was a goddess in the middle, spinning the wheel of fortune. I've asked several people, but i wanted anyone's thoughts on this; which goddess would it have been? Some have said, the goddess herself...

-kiara

 

[Kiama]

Most probably it was the Roman Goddess Fortuna, Goddess of luck, the Wheel of Change, fortune, life, death, rebirth, etc.... A good phrase attributed to Her is:

"Fortuna favours the brave.."

Kiama

 

[truthsayer]

Quote:kiara381 (12 Aug, 2001 18:25):
In the lectures and tutorial, the image of a "wheel of fortune" was used, and discussed, as the idea of the wheel of fortune was used in plays at that time. In the particular picture we were shown, there was a goddess in the middle, spinning the wheel of fortune. I've asked several people, but i wanted anyone's thoughts on this; which goddess would it have been? Some have said, the goddess herself...
-kiara

i'm referring to the mythology deck to answer your question but i've seen the goddess on the wheel in various decks. the mythology deck has the maiden spinning, the mother measuring and the crone cutting the thread of someone's life. the greeks called the 3 women the Moirai. clotho was the spinner. lachesis the measurer. Atropos whose name means "she who cannot be avoided" was the cutter. the 3 fates wove the thread of a human life in their secret cave. their decisions about a human life was final and could not be undone by any god. the wheel of fortune was seen as the spinning wheel. i've also seen it represented as the 3 headed goddess in some decks. i figure it is connected to the myth of the 3 fates but also the idea of the unavoidable cycles of life we all go thru--youth, adulthood, and old age. i'm sure i can dig up more info if you need it, kiara. i've been a mythology buff for years.

as far as the 3 fates go, piers antony did an excellent book about clotho, lachesis, and atropos in his "incarnations of immortality series". i wish i could remember the title of the particular one in the series but!

 

[truthsayer]

btw, the romans conquered the greeks and basically took on the same god/dess mythology of the greeks. they just changed the names to make what they did seem less like copying. fortuna is prob related to the moirai in some way. for example, zeus became jupiter, aphrodite became venus, artemis became diana, and hera became juno to the romans. the only one i don't think they changed was apollo but i'm not sure. to the romans!

 

[Rhiannon]

kiara381: the figure with the wheel could also have been one of the muses. It seems to me I remember something about that. I also like the idea truthsayer said about the 3 fates. Isn't that the picture shown in the Spiral Tarot for the Wheel?

Also, truthsayer, the book is called "With a Tangled Skein" and it is the 3rd book in the Incarnations of Immortality series. I love Piers Anthony!

Rhiannon

 

[misifu]

The answer to your question is the goddess Fortuna, suggesting that man is subject to the whims of Fate.
Lots of love,
Misifu